Commence O'Festival!

Walking through town to Swytch's parent's house, I kinda stuck out like a sore thumb. I actually had young ones coming up to me and asking me questions about what I was, which was amusing to everyone. Before long there was literally a troupe of young skunktaurs, chakats and other morphs following me asking questions and touching me and asking me to pick them up and play with them. Some parents weren't pleased and quickly led their young away and I had more than a few negative emotions bouncing around in my mind from outsiders and there was this constant roar in the back of my head that had me shaking my head on occasion to clear it away. Most parents though found their young's curiosity quite amusing and before long I had to signal a halt to everyone.

"OK little ones, I'll tell you what. If you let me get home and drop off my bags, I'll come back outside and anyone who wants to talk or ask questions can. How's that?" I asked.

We left behind a lot of excited youths and resigned parents who tolerated their offspring's curiosity as a part of growing up. We made it to the house and inside without any further interruptions. I looked around at the home my mate had grown up in and could see a lot of love put into the decorations and mementos placed here, there, and yonder.

"You have a lovely home," I said.

"Thank you," said Jynxy. "And now drop off your bags and head back outside or we are going to have a ton of house guests, you promised the cubs their play time!"

So, I dropped off my bags in Swytch's room and headed back outside alone while Swytch caught up with hys parents. I made my way back to the small park where I had left the cubs and was surprised to find that the crowd was even larger with excited cubs everywhere. The murmuring in the back of mind grew louder the closer I got and I could discern mingled levels of excitement and curiosity and a low undertone of anger. The latter of which made me nervous. I managed to wade my way through the crowd of cubs and parents nodding at the adults pleasantly as I did so trying to ignore all of the noise in my mind. I sat down on a grassy section and was instantly awash in small hands all wanting to touch me. I stayed quite still while each cub satisfied their curiosity and more than a few of the less shy cubs flat out hugged me happily. I spent quite a while talking to cubs as well as adults, most of whom never having actually met a human face to face before, and I think I may have even made a few friends in the process. Of course, that is when the trouble started. The undertone of anger in my mind started to increase in intensity and before long, an angry group of various morph species were wading through the crowd.

The hyena morph, who seemed to be the spokesman of the group, stepped forward angrily. "What are you doing here, human? We don't want your kind around here. Your kind isn't welcome!"

At those words an angry rumble of assent from the crowd behind him added their voice to his and cubs started to run back to their parents at the anger being broadcast.

"I'm not here to start any trouble! I only came for the festival with my Denmate," I said.

Most of the parents were quickly extricating their cubs away from the group and worked to get them out of the way of harm. So, I tried to keep the mob's attention as best I could to give them the time they needed. "I am sorry if my presence here upsets you, I will leave," I said placatingly.

Turning to the cubs I said, "I'm sorry, little ones, playtime is over, but if you ever see me again, please, say hi!" Then I turned towards Swytch's folk's house.

"I don't think you understand human, we want you off our planet, you don't deserve to be here. This is our planet; we don't want your kind here," the hyena morph said with anger seething in his voice.

"I am sorry, but I cannot do that. I work here, my Denmate and I live here, this is our home." And I quickly made my exit heading back towards Swytch's home with anger seething in my mind like angry hornets in my skull.

Luckily, I made it back to the house without further incident. Swytch met me at the door with an anxious expression.

"What happened? I can feel you're upset," hy said anxiously.

"Oh, just a taste of past bitter medicine from the other side is all," I said with a touch of irony. "It seems there is a group here that really doesn't want any humans around and approached me while I was playing with the cubs." I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, "And what the hell is all this noise in my head?!?" I asked irritably.

Swytch led me into the living area which didn't have any furniture for humans, so I took a seat on a taur pad with Swytch sitting beside me. Jynxy spoke up, "I was wondering about that. What you're hearing is the skunktaur mental network. I'm sure Swytch has mentioned it before. Every skunktaur in the area has a mental link to every other skunktaur. Think of it as a giant mental network. I'm actually surprised they haven't noticed you're a human and gently asked you to leave." Hy looked curiously at me before saying, "Of course, that might be because of the test results I got back from my friend at the genetics lab from your blood sample. My friend is very curious to meet you; it's not every day hy gets a blood sample with human and skunktaur genetic markers."

That took me off guard a bit. "Say what, now?" I asked confused.

Jynxy nodded, "According to hys test results, your genetic markers show you're part human and part skunktaur. Not by a large margin or anything, but hy really wants to run some more tests on you." Hy raised hys hand as I was about to start to protest and said, "l know, and hy said hy wouldn't pry but hy is VERY curious and has offered to share the time with a representative from the telepath school." Hy gave me an apologetic smile. "Max, it really is something you should get checked on. Whoever tinkered with your DNA may have done irreparable damage and you may be a ticking time bomb waiting to go off."

Swytch looked worriedly at me. "I'll go with you. Please, Max?" Swytch asked as hy took my hand and I could feel the depth of hys worry for me and I nodded.

Fighting my inner fears of being discovered I said, "OK, I'll go... I guess it is better to know. When can hy squeeze us in?" I asked.

"Actually, hy said tomorrow after the opening ceremonies for the liberation day celebration. The lab will be vacant due to being closed for the holiday, but hys curiosity is greater than hys need to party, so hy would be happy to meet you then," Jynxy said.

I nodded and sighed with resignation, "OK then, Swytch and I will go tomorrow after the opening ceremonies."

Riot shook hir head. "You mean we will all go tomorrow after the opening ceremonies. Family sticks together," shi said.

I felt a sudden swell of thankfulness for hir at that statement and I was a tad choked up when I replied, "Thank you, Riot. Thank you Jynxy. It feels good to have a family... Now, someone said something about cake?" I grinned.

I got to spend another wonderful night sleeping in the family pile, so to speak. You'll never get cold sleeping with that much fur around you. We all awoke while it was still dark outside; I went to the kitchen and started to pull my weight by making waffles and bacon for everyone. It takes longer for taurs to shower and dry than it does for a human, so by the time they were all clean and brushed, there were heaping stacks of waffles and bacon on the table for everyone. I had already eaten and had fun showering in a taur sized facility. The fur dryer left me a bit windblown, but was entertaining nonetheless. I slipped into a pair of fresh blue jeans, my boots, and another loud Hawaiian shirt, this one with swirls of sky blue, and bright grass green with decorative designs all over it. I put my hair up in a low ponytail and pulled out an old wide brimmed fedora I had owned for forever to keep the sun off my easily burnt skin. Then I grabbed two wrapped packages from my overnight bag and hid them behind my back. I walked back into the kitchen and struck a pose for everyone.

"Holy crap, Max, are you trying to make Dad look tamer?" Swytch asked.

Riot gave me an appraising look. "You don't happen to have another shirt like that do you?" shi asked curiously.

Smirking, I pulled a package from behind my back and handed it to Riot with an impish grin. Riot's tail tip started to twitch furiously as shi unwrapped the package and pulled out a taur sized Hawaiian that managed to take all of hir unique fur colors and swirl them into a landscape dotted with black palm trees and Tiki torches. Ever been pounced by a happy, pregnant chakat? If you're frail, I don't recommend it. After I managed to extricate myself from a happily purring chakat, Riot put the shirt on and everyone instantly realized that maybe I had gone a touch overboard with the colors; everyone except Riot, who was quite in love with hir new shirt.

Swytch elbowed me and murmured, "When did you have that made? You totally made hir day, by the way. Dad loves bright colors if you couldn't already tell. What did you get for mom?"

Smirking I said, "Well, my job doesn't take up all my time. There is a lot of free time at work to play with replicator patterns. Plus, I like your dad and wanted to do something nice for hir. For your mom, I got a new pair of sunglasses." I laughed.

This caused Swytch to burst out laughing and with the curious look from hir parents I handed Jynxy hys package. Hy was almost as bad as Riot at getting inside hys package, but when he pulled out the sun glass case and opened it, hy started laughing as well. Hy pulled out the taur sized sunglasses and slipped them on and looked at hys Lifemate. "Ahhhh, MUCH better..." Jynxy said with obvious relief in hys voice. Riot just stuck hir tongue out at hir Lifemate and stuck hir muzzle in the air. "Some people just have no taste!" shi said.

We made it to the opening ceremonies fairly early before the crowds made it. I felt very conspicuous, I'm fairly certain I was the only human around. The upside was that Swytch was shielding for me, so the background roar was down to a gentle murmur and I could hear myself think at least. I got more than a few curious stares and a couple of glowers which provoked raised eyebrows from my family which was enough of a deterrent for the majority of them. While waiting for the official ceremonies to start, I felt a tug on the back of my shirt and turning around. I didn't see anyone until I looked down. Tugging on my shirt was a young vixen morph with curly black hair and pretty green eyes. She couldn't have been more than a few years old and was wearing a very pretty dress for the occasion.

"Where are your parents, little one?" I asked and followed her finger as she pointed to a grown Vixen wrestling with what looked like twins with a bit of a frazzled look on her muzzle.

When she noticed where her daughter had gone, she quickly towed the twins over and apologized. "I'm sooo sorry, Sir. My mate is off world and the girls all wanted to come to the festival. I'm sorry if Sharra bothered you," she said in a breathless voice.

"It was no bother at all, Ma'am." I then squatted in front of the young vixen and held out my hand, "Hi, I'm Max, pleasure to meet you."

The young vixen smiled at me and shyly took my hand and then didn't release it. I looked up at Swytch who had a weird look on hys face and sent, "Think it would be OK if they joined us for a bit, long enough for the mother to catch her breath?"  Swytch nodded with a smile. I then looked up at the flustered mother and said, "You're welcome to hang with us until you can catch your breath." The vixen gratefully thanked me and sidled closer to our group. I then picked up the eldest lifting her high in the air and placed her on my shoulders to see over the crowd. The young vixen giggled the entire way up.

The vixen introduced herself to everyone as Sarah Vulina and the twins were introduced as Clarice and Cindy and the eldest was named Sharra. Rounds of introductions were made and everyone quickly started chatting while they waited.

Swytch latched onto my arm and leaned against me as everyone chatted. "You're very good with kids. You'll make a great father one day," hy murmured. To which I smiled sadly at hym. Hy could feel my thoughts, "There is always a way hon, I've even heard stories about a foundation here on Chakona that can not only supply you with gene therapy to make you fertile with me, but if you really wanted to, they could even turn you into a skunktaur like me."

That idea made me blink in stunned amazement. Could it be possible to actually have a child with Swytch? The idea of changing races really didn't even register with me at the time; I was too intent on the idea of being able to have children with Swytch. Swytch smiled and hugged my arm closer as hy felt a spark of hope kindle inside me at the thought.

A skunktaur stepped onto the stage and raised hys hands to get everyone's attention. Once everyone had quieted down, hy spoke. "Welcome gentle beings all to the Liberation Celebration Festival! The next 3 days will be dedicated to song, dance, friends, family, and celebration! For as the sun eventually conquers the dark, so were skunktaurs elevated into the light by their kin the chakats. Let us all celebrate and be thankful for the life we have as well as the future we will all make together! I hereby say, LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!"

This was met with great cheering and applauds and the crowd started to scatter to various amusements. Sarah quickly spoke up, "Oh, I see my sister over by the fountain! Thank you, all of you, for letting me get a breather. Have a great festival!"

It took me a minute to convince Mina it was time to come down and go with her mother and the shy little vixen waved bye as she was led away to visit her cousins and Aunt.

"Better be careful," Swytch teased. "You may have a new admirer!"

I just rolled my eyes, "She's what, 4? 5? I think your position as my mate is safe."

Swytch gave me a long-suffering look before speaking, "You do know most families are quite a bit more than just two individuals right? The only reason mom and dad haven't found anyone else is because their work keeps them both quite busy. Heck, my teacher in school was very close to being a Denmate to my dad if it weren't for hir working all the time."

I looked around at the sea of morphs which tended to take a wide berth around me before speaking, "I don't think there are many here that are even remotely interested in a human as a mate. I feel a bit like an endangered species around here. I haven't seen another human anywhere."

"That's because opening ceremonies are normally only for people who live here and their families. Granted, I would have thought there would be at least a couple more humans around." Hy looked around at everyone moving around us. "Well, I guess we should head to the Doctor's office?" I asked. Jynxy and Riot padded up and nodded. Swytch nodded and turned. "Well, let's get this over with then."

We took an automated PTV to the medical center of the island where we rendezvoused with a skunktaur in a lab coat anxiously waiting in the entryway. Hy quickly came out to meet our PTV and shook my hand as soon as I had exited. "Hello! My name is Ryvell of Clan Bluepaw, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm guessing you're my mysterious blood sample?"

Well, Jynxy had one thing right; this was a very excited skunktaur. "Yes, my name is Maximilian Pilumnus, it is a pleasure to meet you as well Ryvell."

"Please, everyone come inside and we will get started quickly, so we can all return to the festivities." With that Ryvell badged us into the building and led us down several corridors to a very well apportioned lab. "Max, if you will please take a seat in the exam chair, I'll run several scans to gather more information."

I walked nervously over to the large mechanical chair and took a seat. Once I was seated the chair swiveled and reclined back until I was lying fully flat. A medical scanner moved swiftly from the wall as Ryvell typed various commands into hys console and the scanner started the first of several sweeps over my body. Ryvell stood at hys monitors watching the scans and making notations on various items. Shortly, the door chimed and Ryvell checked the security monitor and nodded heading to the door letting another skunktaur in. The new addition had the normal coloration of a skunktaur but had three stripes down hys back.

The new addition came over to our little group. "Hello, my name is Trypp of Clan Redpaw," hy said congenially.

"Hello Trypp, my name is Maximilian Pilumnus. It's nice to meet you. Are you here to pick my brain?" I quipped.

Trypp smiled and went over to Jynxy shaking hys hand and gave Riot a hug and then ruffled Swytch's hair. "Long time, no see, cub."

Swytch managed to look aggrieved and groused, "I really wish everyone would stop calling me, cub." Although hy gave Trypp a hug in return.

"You'll always be a cub to me, I watched you grow up, remember?" hy grinned.

Turning back to me hy said, "While you're being scanned physically, would you mind if I scanned you mentally? I won't be looking at memories I'll be looking at talent and your link with Swytch."

I let out a sigh, "Might as well, I already feel like a lab rat, let's make it complete."

Trypp looked at Swytch, "Please unshield him, I can feel it from here. I promise not to hurt him. You should know me better than that." Swytch looked a touch worried but did as hy was asked. I could tell because the background noise swelled in my head and I grimaced at it. "Don't worry, for the exam I'll be shielding us both so just close your eyes and relax if you can," Trypp said in a soothing tone.

Trypp walked closer and settled on hys haunches and stared intently at me. I closed my eyes and the noise subsided into the background and then into complete quiet. I must have dozed off because Swytch was shaking my shoulder gently when I came back to myself. "We almost lost you for a minute; Trypp says you have one hell of a pull."

Looking around I looked at Trypp who looked a tad strained. "Pull?" I asked.

Trypp looked thoughtful for a minute, "Your mind is kind of like a gravity well for other minds. You're what the Blackpaw clan would call an anchor. Your mind acts like a... Well... Anchor," hy said lamely. "Think of it this way, Blackpaws astral walk. They leave their body and explore things in their astral form. Normally, they are tied to their bodies of course, but if they were trying something more dangerous, they use anchors to 'tie' off to so they can find their way back. It's probably why Swytch's subconscious was drawn to you and why the two of you are so tied together. I could see the individual swirls of your two different color patterns but only vaguely for short times. Honestly, there really isn't a way to tell where one of you ends and the other begins." Hy looked at Jynxy, "It would be incredibly dangerous to try to separate them. From what I can tell Max's mind was only a step away from fracturing into insanity and catatonia. If Swytch hadn't wrapped hymself around Max when hy did, well, Max would probably be in an asylum right now, unresponsive to anyone." Trypp looked at Max, "Who did all of that to you? What was so traumatic that you couldn't reconcile it?" he asked curiously.

I looked at Jynxy, "How much do